Getting Brenda Frese to leave Maryland for the UA would be similar to when the Wildcats lured Lute Olson from Iowa for the 1983-84 season.

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By the time Arizona hires a new women's basketball coach and Lute Olson returns to his office, it will have cost Jim Livengood about $1 million in unbudgeted dollars.

The UA's basketball crisis fast became a financial one.

First, a position was created for ex-associate head basketball coach Jim Rosborough at a cost of about $125,000. Next, Kevin O'Neill will be paid about $725,000 for the year, which is roughly $600,000 in new salary.

Finally, Joan Bonvicini's $139,000 salary for 2008-09 must be paid. And now the Wildcats will pay something close to $25,000 for a search firm to identify a women's basketball coach. In addition, when women's assistants are hired, the Wildcats will have to simultaneously pay those released and those hired through June 30. That's probably another $75,000.

In addition, because Bonvicini was the lowest-paid women's coach in the Pac-10, it's likely Arizona will have to almost double her salary, to about $250,000, to attract a capable coach.

Unfortunately, the slumbering UA football program does not generate enough money to cover these unexpected basketball costs.

Nonetheless, this is my suggestion: You've got to spend money to make money.

Livengood's first offer should be to Maryland's Brenda Frese, a former Arizona starter and coach at Pima College and Mountain View High School. The 2006 NCAA championship coach has a contract through 2013 at Maryland,with a base salary of $215,000 and a package that probably touches $400,000 annually.

If Frese has any curiosity about returning to her alma mater, she would be worth every penny. The image make over would be dazzling. In women's basketball, the Pac-10 is stagnant, wide open, vulnerable to a takeover by a talented fresh face.

At 37, Frese has been to the mountaintop at Maryland. The UA should be aggressive enough to create a dialogue and learn if she is willing to return to Tucson for a career-altering challenge.

Getting a Final Four coach like Olson out of Iowa at a time Arizona was 4-24 and a total laughingstock once seemed impossible, too.

As Arizona competed for the NCAA women's swimming championship Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, UA All-American senior Lacey Nymeyer had the biggest cheering section.

Her father, Aaron, a former standout football/basketball player at Canyon del Oro High School, provided airfare to Ohio for 16 family members as a Christmas present.

His father is Ed Nymeyer, one of the top basketball players in UA history, and later an Arizona Coaches Association Hall of Fame volleyball and basketball coach at Flowing Wells.

Frank Busch's championship team had further support for Saturday's finals when Tucson Ford Dealers Swim coach Roric Fink, who coached his men's team to the national championship in August, flew in via private jet for the final session.

Fink spent the morning coaching the UA men's team at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. Busch and his coaches return to Tucson today, then leave early this week for Seattle for the men's NCAA swimming championships, which begin Thursday. The Wildcat men's team, undefeated and ranked No. 1 during the dual meet season, is a co-favorite with Texas.

Two weeks ago, Tucsonan Nick Gallick won a Big 12 wrestling championship, upsetting a two-time All-American at 141 pounds to do so. Last week, he became an All-American, finishing fifth in the NCAA championships as an Iowa State sophomore. The Sunnyside High School state champion completed the season with a 28-12 record and will return in 2009 and 2010 in an attempt to match his older brother and fellow former Blue Devil Nate Gallick's 2005 NCAA title at Iowa State. … Arizona's 2001 Final Four center, Loren Woods, has returned to the NBA. His timing couldn't be better. He signed a 10-day contract with the Houston Rockets on Friday because his EuroLeague season with Turkey's Istanbul Efes Pilsen ended prematurely. Woods balked at playing games in Serbia three weeks ago and was released from his contract. Woods told reporters he was acting on advice from the State Department; three other teammates declined to travel to Serbia. He essentially replaces injured Yao Ming on the Houston roster. Woods has played for Minnesota, Miami and Toronto in six NBA seasons. … Debby Day, who pitched Arizona to its first NCAA softball championship in 1991, was back in Tucson last week. As head coach of the Cal Lutheran softball team, Day's team played six games in the vast Tucson Invitational Games at Lincoln Park. The Tucson Invitational Games are a spring haven for mostly cold-weather softball teams of Division II and Division III. Day's team went 4-2 in games against teams from Wisconsin and Massachusetts while here.

Former UA guard Chris Rodgers is playing pro basketball about as close to Tucson as is possible. After being released by his Belgian team in January, the controversial Rodgers moved back to the region and is starting for Fuerza Guinda of Nogales, Sonora, part of the Mexican CIBACOPA pro league. He is averaging 19.8 points and 2.1 assists in a league that has teams in Culiacan, Agua Prieta and Cananea, among others. The arena in Nogales seats 2,250. Not exactly the big leagues. … After playing so well for the Mexican National team in 2008 international competition, former CDO guard Anthony Lever Pedroza moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina to play the 2007-08 EuroLeague season. Pedroza struggled, averaging 8.9 points and was released last week when his team fell into 13th place among 14 teams in the Adriatic League. … UA sophomore volleyball standout Whitney Dosty was accorded one of the top honors by the Pac-10 last week. The former Salpointe Catholic star was named a delegate to the NCAA National Leadership Conference by the Pac-10; she is the UA's only representative at the 350-member convention May 27-31 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Dosty is another of those who have excelled while taking part in Becky Bell's distinguished CATS program for UA student-athletes.

On Friday, spring training games at Tucson Electric Park (Diamondbacks-Dodgers) and Hi Corbett Field (Cubs-Rockies) drew 19,971 fans. Expect today's Rockies-Dodgers game at Hi Corbett to be a sellout (or as close as is possible). Another huge crowd at Hi Corbett is expected Wednesday when the Rockies play the Diamondbacks at 1 p.m. Wednesday's game is "Tucson Loves Spring Training'' day and fewer than 1,000 tickets remained on Friday. It will be the Rockies' final game in Tucson this spring. The "Tucson Loves Spring Training'' campaign is part of a community effort that involves ex-Sidewinders GM Mike Feder, and others such as Jim Click, attorney Burt Kinerk and ex-major-league pitcher Dan Schneider, who was part of the group that brought the Rockies to Tucson 15 years ago. … Tucsonan Brian Anderson appears to be part of the White Sox opening day plans. General manager Ken Williams on Friday told reporters "all he does is make our '08 picture a bit better.'' The former CDO and UA outfielder was hitting. 353 through Friday, responding to the play-well-now-or-be-gone pressure of spring training. … After making a name for himself on Pima College's basketball team in 2006-07, ex-Desert View High forward Mark Sanchez had a useful junior season for Boise State. He helped the Broncos win the WAC championship while playing 12 minutes in the three-overtime title game. In his NCAA debut Friday, a loss to Louisville, Sanchez played one minute.

Pima College's two-time national champion softball coach Stacy Iveson has built Yavapai College into a national power in its first season of competition. The Roughriders are 32-8 and will play a homecoming doubleheader for the ex-UA standout and assistant coach on Saturday afternoon at PCC. Don't expect it to be easy. First-year PCC coach Armando Quiroz has the Aztecs ranked No. 3 in the nation in the first poll, released last week. How tough is the ACCAC? As good as Pima and Yavapai are, Eastern Arizona is ranked No. 1 nationally. … At Pusch Ridge Christian High School from 2005 to 2007, Katlyn Freeland was one of Tucson's leading athletes. She has continued that level of excellence as a freshman softball player at Baylor. Freeland has started 20 of the first 24 games for a program that played in last year's College World Series. Freeland was second in the Big 12 in batting entering the weekend (.452) while shuttling between second base and shortstop. … Forward David Jackson, who played basketball for Rincon's Rich Utter and then accepted a scholarship to Idaho before transferring to Mesa College this season, is in demand again. Jackson, who averaged 16.6 points and 6.9 rebounds at MCC is being actively recruited by Pepperdine, Portland and Duquesne. He is visiting Louisiana Tech this weekend. He initially signed with New Orleans but was released from that commitment after a coaching change. … Tucson businessman Chris Rastatter was one of 11 Pac-10 basketball referees selected to work NCAA tournament games. He called Friday's Tennessee-American game in Birmingham, Ala. Rastatter also worked two games in the Pac-10 tournament, which is based on season evaluations.

If incoming UA point guard Brandon Jennings is as good as most think he is, it won't matter if Jerryd Bayless bolts for the NBA.

The most important piece of Arizona's off-season is to keep Jordan Hill for his junior season. As long as Chase Budinger remains strictly a jump-shooter (with rebounding and defensive liabilities) it is Hill who becomes the must-keep player on Arizona's roster.